ACL compiles a daily media monitoring service of stories of interest to the Christian constituency relating to children, family, drugs and alcohol, marriage, human rights, religious freedom etc. Visit the ACL’s website each day to see what’s of interest in the news. Please note that selection of the articles does not represent ACL endorsement of the content.

A ballot initiative in Mississippi could raise the stakes in the acrimonious American abortion debate. Proposition 26 affirms that personhood begins at conception. It seeks to add the following sentence to the state constitution: “The term ‘person’ or ‘persons’ shall include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning, or the functional equivalent thereof.”

The near death of a woman who had a late-term abortion in a private clinic has prompted calls for better services for women who end their pregnancies after 20 weeks. Health Services Commissioner Beth Wilson and Family Planning Victoria said it was an unacceptable risk for women that elective surgical abortions - where the deceased foetus is removed while the woman is under anaesthetic - were only offered for late-term pregnancies by one private doctor in the southern hemisphere.

It has been labelled a mad orgy of depravity and gore - a movie so disturbing and sickening it was banned in Britain. But this week, The Human Centipede 2: Full Sequence, a tale of kidnap victims surgically joined together and subjected to rape and torture, scuttles into Brisbane cinemas, untouched by censors and courting moral outrage. The controversial movie, dubbed the sickest ever made, screens at the taxpayer-funded Brisbane International Film Festival.

Young women are starving themselves before going on drinking binges so they can avoid the calories that come with alcoholic drinks, an eating disorder spokeswoman said. Women faced with the pressure to stay slim and have an eating disorder but faced with the pressure to booze up will have a drinking problem, the Sunday Telegraph reports.

Victorian children as young as 12 are inhaling butane gas to get high in a revival of a frightening trend. The solvent meant for camping stoves and lighters is highly flammable and poisonous, but kids are spraying it into their nostrils and throats for a quick fix.

Building sandcastles just doesn't cut it for a lot of families these days. Family holidays are getting highly organised and structured with much emphasis on education and experiences, according to experts.

Independent Senator Nick Xenophon will meet Opposition Leader Tony Abbott this week to try to persuade him to support tougher controls on problem gambling. He will also make the case on Wednesday that Mr Abbott should accept a $1 maximum bet limit as part of the Coalition's gambling policy.

Father-of-two Adrian Smith, 54, was found guilty of misconduct and had his salary slashed by £14,000 after saying on his private Facebook page that same-sex weddings in churches would be ‘an equality too far’. In a letter to Mr Smith after it rejected his appeal against demotion, the trust revealed its concerns over tarnishing the ‘quality mark’ it received last year from the Albert Kennedy Trust, which supports homeless young gays and lesbians.

Hundreds of Coptic Christians mobilized on Tuesday in front of the Monastery of the Virgin and St. John the Beloved, located on the Desert Road from Cairo to Ismailia. Although the Monastery has the necessary permits, the army had sent a message to the monastery that they would come on the next day, October 25, to demolish its fence, which guards it from unauthorized visits and criminals.

A believer of Muslim Background, Fariborz Arazm, has gone missing since his arrest last week by plain clothes security officers. According to Mohabat News, on October 17, 2011, a group of four officers engaged in a commando-style raid on the house of Mr. Arazm, arresting him, then transferring him to an unknown location. The raid took place around 7:30 in the morning local time, just before he left for work.

She's the multi-million-dollar supermodel who leaves millions of fans worldwide weak at the knees with her raunchy lingerie shoots. But Brazilian bombshell Gisele Bundchen has failed to impress her Australian-based godmother. She's launched a campaign against her famous relative's risque advertisements, claiming they degrade women.

The parents of several students from a Melbourne private school are considering suing a prominent St Kilda nightclub for using provocative images of their daughters, some just 16, to promote the venue. More than 15 girls from St Michael's Grammar in St Kilda were photographed at Superdisco, which is held at the Prince Bandroom every Saturday night.